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New Halifax
As of the Solar Year 7300, New Halifax was the largest city on the planet Sapphire. Four and a half million people live in the city itself and another eight million in the extended region. Geography New Halifax is spread across some 45 islands in the Halifax Bay connected to the mainland by an extensive network of bridges and viaducts. The largest of these islands, Grand Halifax, is the location of the central commercial district and has, over the centuries, been expanded through infill to encompass four other nearby islands. Docklands and terminals stretch the length of the archipelago but the largest are the North Docklands (where most of the terrestrial shipping is located) and the South Docklands where the city’s primary spaceport is located. The city’s residential areas are spread across a number of islands, each having its own name and residential character. Blazer and Bush islands are known for the wealth and snobbery of their inhabitants, for example. Stokes, Richter, Singleton, Porter, Randall, and Hummer islands are more typical of the mainstream of the Haligoonian populace; each comprising residential districts, parks, and commercial centers. New Halifax is unusually dense for a Sapphirean city, and one of the few cities where the majority of inhabitants live in tower blocks instead if individual dwelling units. The Greater New Halifax Metropolitan Nexus (GNHMN) also encompasses New Kure island, a large island forty kilometers northeast of the city connected by MagLev and air shuttle. A number of smaller communities on the Cozzi peninsula, located on the mainland across from New Kure Island, is also included in the GNHMN. The mainland itself is sparsely populated, being very rocky and geologically unstable. An artificial beach has been constructed along some parts of the shoreline, but it is subject to regular flooding during the storm season. The city’s climate is warm and subtropical with little seasonal variation. Over the centuries, a system of natural and artificial barrier islands has been built around the city to protect it from the storms the area is prone to. History New Halifax was founded in the Sapphirean Year 4474 as a exploratory and survey outpost for the then uninhabited continent of Carpentaria. The discovery of exploitable minerals in the mountain ranges to the east led to its initial growth and development as a port city. New Halifax grew rapidly in the post-colonial era (beginning around the Sapphirean year 5500) as space-trading collapsed and the planet became more dependent on minerals extracted from the Carpentarian continent. Through most of the planet’s history, New Halifax has been a moderately large city. The city boomed again with the expansion of extraplanetary mining in the 69th Century, growing to become the planet’s third largest city. The city boomed again at the start of the 75th Sapphirean Century with the expansion of interstellar trade and became Sapphire’s largest city. Until the Sapphirean Year 6982, New Halifax was the governing capital of Carpentaria continent until the citizenry voted to evict the Government and gave them ten years to leave. It was felt, at the time, that the Continental Government was simply occupying too much valuable real estate and interfering with New Halifax’s trade relationships. The Continental Government decamped to two sites on the mainlands: Forrestal (on the Northern Subcontinent) and Bonaventure (on the Southern Subcontinent), each becoming the seat of Government for its respective subcontinent. The New Halifax District was set apart and governs itself autonomously; neither subcontinental government has jurisdiction within the New Halifax District. Economics New Halifax had made its fortune on processing ore from space; a vital industry on Sapphire whose mineral resources had been stripped by an earlier civilization hundreds of millennia earlier. New Halifax possesses a broad deep harbor, ideal for accommodating the very large ships that carried ore from space to the ground. New Halifax is the busiest harbor on the planet Sapphire. Almost two-thirds of off-world cargo reaches the planet through New Halifax, the majority being minerals and chemicals from Mining Guild operations. Over a fifth of off-world exports leave through New Halifax. The city is well located to take advantage of industrial production on the north shore of Jutland, Sapphire’s most industrialized region. There are extensive refining and processing operations in Hew Halifax. As is the case with most of the Carperntarian landmass, there is little arable land in the area of New Halifax. Despite sea harvest and hydroponic operations, the city is mostly dependent on imports for most of its food supply. The combination of high food prices, limited living space, and the demands of a trade-based economy make New Halifax the most expensive city on Sapphire in which to live. Nickel Plate Road and the Platinum Festival New Halifax was the nexus point for contact between mining guildsman and the ocean sailors. It became known as the best "Good Time" port in the two systems. The good citizens of New Halifax had taken measures to confine the excesses of these hardy mariners to the establishments around Nickel Plate Road, the major surface street that connected Big Harbor and Smaller Harbor on Main Island (the second largest island in the chain; it was once the largest until Grand Halifax swallowed up Thigpen and Como islands in the 67th Sapphirean Centurt). Over the centuries, however, Haligoonian tavern-keepers had come to realize that tourists were more profitable than sailors and miners, and generally less destructive in their patronage. Over time, the nightlife of the actual Nickel Plate Road was tamed to a pale shadow to what had gone on in centuries past. And even the tourists had begun to weary of the lack of authenticity and begun booking package tours for the sex pits, gambling malls, and zero-g gladiatorial combat arenas of the Mining Guild Bases in the Outer System. The Platinum Festival is an annual event held the first week of Octember and involves a lot of brightly colored costumes and drinking. It supposedly celebrates the role of mining and processing in building the city’s economy. In fact, it was initiated by the Carpentaria Brewing Company to sell ale during what had historically been a relatively weak period. Sports New Halifax is regarded as the best sports town on the planet Sapphire. Groundball Team – The Stonekillers Air Hockey Team – The Metal Lords Rounders Team – The Gold Diggers Airball Team – Carpentaria Platinum Knights Category:Cities